Kamal Haasan is an Indian actor, director, dancer, writer, lyricist, playback singer, choreographer, screenwriter, makeup artist and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has acted in Tamil films and has also worked in Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali films. Haasan's contributions to films have been praised by his contemporaries across the Indian film industry, and he has been recognised as an influence for actors and filmmakers in the Tamil film industry. He is a pioneer in introducing many new technologies and cosmetics to the Indian film industry. He has won 4 National Film Awards and 20 Filmfare Awards. After his last Filmfare award for Hey Ram in 2000, he wrote letter to the Filmfare Association requesting not to award him further and give awards to young talents and they accepted that. At age six, he won the President's Gold Medal National award for Best Child Actor for his debut film, Kalathur Kannamma. He was awarded the Kalaimamani award in 1984, The Padma Shri in 1990, the Padma Bhushan in 2014 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier) in 2016. Seven of his films were submitted by India to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, the most films ever submitted for any actor in India. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at 15th Mumbai International Film Festival in 2013. He has won more than 116 awards. His production company, Raaj Kamal Films International, has produced several of his films.
Trisha Krishnan, known mononymously as Trisha, is an Indian actress and model, who primarily works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi -language films. She was noticed after winning Miss Chennai contest (1999), which marked her entry into the film industry. Trisha is often referred as Queen Of South India for her performance across all South Indian languages. She has been ranked among the best actresses of South India by The Times of India.
Ajith Kumar is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 60 films in Tamil. His awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. In addition to his acting, Kumar is also a motor car racer and participated in the MRF Racing series (2010).
South Asian cinema refers to the cinema of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The terms Asian cinema, Eastern cinema and Oriental cinema in common usage often encompass South Asia as well as East Asia and South East Asia.
Makarand Deshpande is an Indian actor, writer, and director in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil cinema, and Indian Theatre. He is often seen in supporting and pivotal roles in various films like Jungle, Sarfarosh, Swades, Makdee, Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap and Darna Zaroori Hai where he often plays drunkard, wayfarer, and comic roles. He has directed over 5 films.
Aasal (transl. Original) is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Saran. The film stars Ajith Kumar in the lead role, who is also credited for the story, dialogues, screenplay and co-direction of the film, while Sameera Reddy and Bhavana play the lead female roles. The film has an extensive cast, with Prabhu, Suresh, Sampath Raj and Rajiv Krishna playing prominent roles, among others. The film, produced by Prabhu of Sivaji Productions, features music primarily composed by Bharathwaj, cinematography by Prashanth D. Misale and editing by Anthony Gonsalves.
Nivin Pauly is an Indian actor and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam film industry. He is a recipient of several awards including two Kerala State Film Awards and three Filmfare South awards. Nivin auditioned for and was cast in one of the main roles in Vineeth Sreenivasan's directorial debut Malarvaadi Arts Club in 2009, which was produced by actor Dileep. Nivin got his breakthrough with his lead role in the romantic film Thattathin Marayathu (2012), which was also directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan. He came to be known for playing "boy next door" archetype following roles in the bilingual black-comedy thriller Neram (2013), the sports-drama 1983 (2014), the romantic-comedy Ohm Shanthi Oshaana (2014), the romantic-drama Bangalore Days (2014), the comedy road-thriller Oru Vadakkan Selfie (2015), and the coming-of-age romantic drama Premam (2015). Premam is among the top 10 highest-grossing Malayalam films.
Velipadinte Pusthakam is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language tragic, action film directed by Lal Jose and written by Benny P. Nayarambalam. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor through Aashirvad Cinemas; it stars Crystal R.J. and Mohanlal with Anoop Menon, Anna Rajan, Priyanka Nair, Siddique, Salim Kumar, Sanjeev M Pillai and Chemban Vinod Jose in supporting roles. Shaan Rahman composed the film's soundtrack and score.
Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (titled Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham in Malayalam is an Indian epic period war film directed by Priyadarshan. Set in the 16th century Calicut, the film is based on the fourth Kunjali Marakkar named Muhammad Ali, the admiral of the fleet of the Zamorin. Priyadarshan scripted the film with Ani Sasi. The film is produced by Antony Perumbavoor's Aashirvad Cinemas. Marakkar features an ensemble cast with Mohanlal in the title role and Pranav Mohanlal play Mohanlal's young role, alongside Arjun Sarja, Suniel Shetty, Prabhu, Manju Warrier, Keerthy Suresh, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Nedumudi Venu, Siddique and Mukesh in supporting roles. It is shot simultaneously in Malayalam and Tamil languages.
South Malabar refers to a geographical area of the southwestern coast of India covering some parts of the present-day Kerala. South Malabar covers the regions included in present-day Kozhikode Taluk of Kozhikode district, whole area of Malappuram district, Chavakkad Taluk of Thrissur district, and Palakkad district excluding parts of Chittur Taluk. The Fort Kochi region of Kochi city also historically belongs to South Malabar. The term South Malabar refers to the region of the erstwhile Malabar District which lies south to the river Korapuzha and bears high cultural similarity with both the Cochin as well as the North Malabar region.
